View source for Celsus

{{Short description|2nd-century Greek philosopher}}
{{Other people}}
{{distinguish|Celsius}}
{{Infobox philosopher
|other_names=Kélsos
| name          = Celsus
| image         = 
| caption       = 
| birth_date    = 
| birth_place   = 
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| occupation    = [[Philosopher]]
| language       = [[Koine Greek|Greek]]
| nationality     = [[Roman citizenship|Roman]]
| notable_works = ''[[The True Word]]''
|main_interests=[[Theology]]|region=[[Western philosophy]]|era=[[Ancient philosophy]]|school_tradition=Possibly [[Platonism]], [[Aristotelianism]], [[Epicureanism]] or [[Eclecticism]]
}}
[[File:Kata Kelsou.jpg|thumb|[[Origen]], ''Contra Celsum'' ([[Cambridge]], 1676 edition)]]

'''Celsus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|l|s|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc-x-hellen|Κέλσος}}, ''Kélsos''; {{Floruit|AD 175–177}}) was a 2nd-century [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek philosopher]] and [[Criticism of Christianity|opponent]] of [[early Christianity]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Young |first=Frances M. |author-link=Frances Young |year=2006 |chapter=Monotheism and Christology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA452 |editor1-last=Mitchell |editor1-first=Margaret M. |editor1-link=Margaret M. Mitchell |editor2-last=Young |editor2-first=Frances M. |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity: Origins to Constantine |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=1 |pages=452–470 |isbn=978-0-521-81239-9}}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=609}}<ref name=JE1906>{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Gottheil |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard James Horatio Gottheil |last2=Krauss |first2=Samuel |author2-link=Samuel Krauss |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4167-celsus |title=CELSUS (Kέλσος) |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |year=1906 |publisher=[[Kopelman Foundation]] |access-date=4 September 2020}}</ref> His literary work ''[[The True Word]]'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: {{langx|grc-x-hellen|Λόγος Ἀληθής}})<ref name="Hoffmann p.29">Hoffmann p.29</ref><ref name=doc/> survives exclusively via quotations in ''[[Contra Celsum]]'', a refutation written in 248 by [[Origen of Alexandria]].<ref name=JE1906/> ''The True Word'' is the earliest known comprehensive [[criticism of Christianity]] and [[Criticism of Judaism|Judaism]].<ref name=JE1906/>

Hanegraaff<ref name=Ha/> has argued that ''The True Word'' was written shortly after the death of [[Justin Martyr]] (who was possibly the first [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]]), and was probably a response to his work.<ref name=Ha>Hanegraaff  p.22</ref> Origen stated that Celsus was from the first half of the 2nd century AD, although the majority of modern scholars have come to a general consensus that Celsus probably wrote around AD 170 to 180.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoffmann|1987|pp=30–32}}</ref><ref name="Chadwick, H. 1965">Chadwick, H., ''Origen: Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxviii. The arguments for the date depend on factors such as the state of the art of gnosticism, possible references to the Augusti, appeals to defense against barbarian invasion, and the possibility of identifying the persecution described by Celsus with a historical one.</ref>

== Philosophy ==
All that is known about Celsus himself comes from the surviving text of his book and from what Origen says about him.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=94}} Although Origen initially refers to Celsus as an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]],{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|pages=94–95}} his arguments reflect ideas of the [[Platonism|Platonic]] tradition, rather than Epicureanism.{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|pages=94–95}} Origen attributes this to Celsus's inconsistency,{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} but modern historians see it instead as evidence that Celsus was not an Epicurean at all.{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Joseph Wilson Trigg states that Origen probably confused Celsus, the author of ''The True Word'', with a different Celsus, who was an Epicurean philosopher and a friend of the Syrian satirist [[Lucian]].{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Celsus the Epicurean must have lived around the same time as the author of ''The True Word'' and he is mentioned by Lucian in his treatise ''On Magic''.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}} Both Celsus the friend of Lucian and Celsus the author of ''The True Word'' evidently shared a passionate zeal against ''[[superstitio]]'', making it easy to see how Origen could have concluded that they were the same person.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=215}}

Stephen Thomas states that Celsus may not have been a Platonist ''per se'',{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} but that he was clearly familiar with [[Plato]].{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Celsus's actual philosophy appears to be a blend of elements derived from Platonism, [[Aristotelianism]], [[Pythagoreanism]], and [[Stoicism]].{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Wilken likewise concludes that Celsus was a philosophical eclectic, whose views reflect a variety of ideas popular to a number of different schools.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=95}} Wilken classifies Celsus as "a conservative intellectual", noting that "he supports traditional values and defends accepted beliefs".{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=95}} Theologian [[Robert M. Grant (theologian)|Robert M. Grant]] notes that Origen and Celsus actually agree on many points:{{sfn|Grant|1967|page=552}} "Both are opposed to [[Anthropotheism|anthropomorphism]], to [[idolatry]], and to any crudely literal theology."{{sfn|Grant|1967|page=552}} Celsus also writes as a loyal citizen of the [[Roman Empire]] and a devoted believer in the [[ancient Greek religion]] and the [[religion in ancient Rome]], distrustful of Christianity as new and foreign.{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}}

Thomas remarks that Celsus "is no genius as a philosopher".{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} Nonetheless, most scholars, including Thomas, agree that Origen's quotations from ''The True Word'' reveal that the work was well-researched.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|page=33}}{{sfn|Thomas|2004|pages=72–73}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus demonstrates extensive knowledge of both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} and of both Jewish and Christian history.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|pages=215–216}}{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus was also closely familiar with the literary features of ancient polemics.{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} Celsus seems to have read at least one work by one of the second-century Christian apologists, possibly [[Justin Martyr]] or [[Aristides of Athens]].{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=216}}{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=101}} From this reading, Celsus seems to have known which kinds of arguments Christians would be most vulnerable to.{{sfn|Wilken|2003|page=101}} He also mentions the [[Ophites]] and [[Simonians]], two Gnostic sects that had almost completely vanished by Origen's time.{{sfn|Trigg|1983|page=216}} One of Celsus's main sources for Books I–II of ''The True Word'' was an earlier anti-Christian polemic written by an unknown Jewish author,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}}{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} whom Origen refers to as the "Jew of Celsus".{{sfn|Thomas|2004|page=72}} This Jewish source also provides well-researched criticism of Christianity{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} and, although Celsus was also hostile to Judaism,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} he occasionally relies on this Jewish author's arguments,{{sfn|Gregerman|2016|page=61}} to demonstrate the inconsistency of the Christian position, and he also uses Christian arguments among others to deconstruct the Jewish religion.

==Work==
{{main|The True Word}}
Celsus was the author of a work titled ''The True Word'' (''Logos Alēthēs''). The argument was contested by the contemporary Christian community and the book was eventually banned in 448 AD by order of [[Valentinian III]] and [[Theodosius II]], along with [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]'s 15 books attacking the Christians, ''The Philosophy from Oracles''. No complete copies are extant,<ref name="Hoffmann p.29"/><ref name=doc>{{cite book|author=Ulrich R. Rohmer|title=Ecce Homo: A collection of different views on Jesus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZiyAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT98|date=15 January 2014|publisher=BookRix GmbH & Company KG|isbn=978-3-7309-7603-6|page=98}}</ref> but it can be reconstructed from Origen's detailed account of it in his eight volume refutation, which quotes Celsus extensively.<ref name="Hoffmann p.29"/><ref name="Chadwick, H. 1965"/> Origen's work has survived and has thereby preserved Celsus's work.<ref>Origen, ''Contra Celsum'', preface 4.</ref>

Celsus seems to have been interested in [[Ancient Egyptian religion]],<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen: Contra Celsum''. CUP (1965), 3, 17, 19; 8, 58.  He quotes an Egyptian musician named Dionysius in ''CC'' 6, 41.</ref> and he seemed to know of [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenistic Jewish]] logos-theology, both of which suggest ''The True Doctrine'' was composed in Alexandria.<ref>Chadwick, H., ''Origen: Contra Celsum'', CUP (1965), p. xxviii-xxix</ref> Origen indicates that Celsus was an [[Epicurean]] living under the Emperor [[Hadrian]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=290&letter=C |title=Celsus |first1=Richard |last1=Gottheil |first2= Samuel |last2=Krauss | access-date=2007-05-18 |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] }}</ref><ref>Chadwick, H. ''Origen: Contra Celsum'', introduction.</ref>

Celsus writes that "there is an ancient doctrine [''archaios logos''] which has existed from the beginning, which has always been maintained by the wisest nations and cities and wise men". He leaves Jews and Moses out of those he cites (Egyptians, Syrians,
Indians, Persians, Odrysians, Samothracians, Eleusinians, Hyperboreans, Galactophagoi, Druids, and Getae), and instead blames Moses for the corruption of the ancient religion. "The goatherds and shepherds who followed Moses as their leader were deluded by clumsy deceits into thinking that there was only one God, [and] without any rational cause ... these goatherds and shepherds abandoned the worship of many gods". However, Celsus's harshest criticism was reserved for Christians, who "wall themselves off and break away from the rest of mankind".<ref name=Ha/>

Celsus initiated a critical attack on Christianity, ridiculing many of its dogmas. He wrote that some Jews said Jesus's father was actually a Roman soldier named Pantera. Origen considered this a fabricated story.<ref>''Contra Celsum'' by Origen, Henry Chadwick, 1980, {{ISBN|0-521-29576-9}}, page 32</ref><ref>Patrick, John, ''The Apology of Origen in Reply to Celsus'', 2009, {{ISBN|1-110-13388-X}}, pages 22–24,</ref> In addition, Celsus addressed the [[miracles of Jesus]], holding that "Jesus performed his miracles by sorcery ([[wikt:γοητεία|γοητεία]])":<ref>{{cite book|title=The Miracles of Jesus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp43AAAAIAAJ&q=according+to+Celsus+Jesus+performed+His+miracles+by+sorcery&pg=PA166|access-date=14 June 2012|year=1965|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|author=Hendrik van der Loos|quote=According to Celsus Jesus performed His miracles by sorcery (γοητεία); ditto in II, 14; II, 16; II, 44; II, 48; II, 49 (Celsus puts Jesus' miraculous signs on a par with those among men).}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bpj0g2OJRYcC&q=Celsus+miracles+of+Jesus+sorcery&pg=PA106|access-date=14 June 2012|date=3 October 1996|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|author=Margaret Y. MacDonald|isbn = 9780521567282|quote=Celsus calls Jesus a sorcerer. He argues that the miracles of Jesus are on the same level as: 'the works of sorcerers who profess to do wonderful miracles, and the accomplishments of those who are taught by the Egyptians, who for a few obols make known their sacred lore in the middle of the market-place and drive daemons out of men and blow away diseases and invoke the souls of heroes, displaying expensive banquets and dining tables  and cakes and dishes which are non-existent, and who make things move as though they were alive although they are not really so, but only appear as such in the imagination.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Early Christian World, Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0GNnLz23S8C&q=Celsus+miracles+of+Jesus+sorcery&pg=PA135|access-date=14 June 2012|year=2000|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|author=Philip Francis Esler|isbn = 9780415164979|quote=To disprove the deity of Christ required an explanation of his miracles which were recorded in scripture. Celsus does not deny the fact of Jesus' miracles, but rather concentrates on the means by which they were performed. Perhaps influenced by rabbinical sources, Celsus attributes Jesus' miracles to his great skills as a magician.}}</ref>

{{blockquote|O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men.<ref>
{{cite book|title=The Ante-Nicene fathers: translations of the writings of the fathers down to A.D. 325, Volume 4
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ne1YAAAAYAAJ&q=Celsus+miracles+of+Jesus+sorcery&pg=PA450
 |access-date=14 June 2012
 |year=1905
 |publisher=[[Scribner's]]
 |author=Ernest Cushing Richardson, Bernhard Pick
 |quote=But Celsus, wishing to assimilate the miracles of Jesus to the works of human sorcery, says in express terms as follows: "O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature, but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men."
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |title=Origen Against Celsus, Volume 2
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To7ofrcQ1E8C&q=Celsus+miracles+of+Jesus+sorcery+O+light+and+truth%21&pg=PA48|access-date=14 June 2012
 |date=30 June 2004
 |publisher=[[Kessinger Publishing]]
 |author=Origen
 |author-link=Origen
 |isbn = 9781419139161|quote=But Celsus, wishing to assimilate the miracles of Jesus to the works of human sorcery, says in express terms as follows: "O light and truth! he distinctly declares, with his own voice, as ye yourselves have recorded that there are as ye yourselves have recorded, that there will come to you even others, employing miracles of a similar kind, who are wicked men, and sorcerers; and he calls him who makes use of such devices, one Satan. So that Jesus himself does not deny that these works at least are not at all divine, but are the acts of wicked men; and being compelled by the force of truth, he at the same time not only laid open the doings of others, but convicted himself of the same acts. Is it not, then, a miserable inference, to conclude from the same works that the one is God and the other sorcerers? Why ought the others, because of these acts, to be accounted wicked rather than this man, seeing they have him as their witness against himself? For he has himself acknowledged that these are not the works of a divine nature; but the inventions of certain deceivers, and of thoroughly wicked men."
}}</ref>}}

Origen wrote his refutation in 248, and it includes quotes, paraphrases, and references to Celsus's arguments. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of ''The True Doctrine'',<ref name="James D. Tabor 2006. p 64">James D. Tabor, ''The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity'', Simon and Schuster, 2006. p 64</ref> most scholars agree that Origen is a reliable source for what Celsus wrote.<ref>David Brewster  & Richard R. Yeo, ''The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia'', Volume 8, Routledge, 1999.  p 362</ref><ref>[[Bernhard Lang (biblical scholar)|Bernhard Lang]], ''[[International Review of Biblical Studies]]'', Volume 54, Publisher [[Brill Publishers|BRILL]], 2009. p. 401</ref>

Biblical scholar Arthur J. Droge has written that it is incorrect to refer to Celsus's perspective as [[polytheism]]. Instead, he was a [[Henotheism|henotheist]], as opposed to the Jewish strict [[monotheism]];<ref name=Ha/>  historian Wouter Hanegraaff explains that "the former has room for a hierarchy of lower deities which do not detract from the ultimate unity of the One."<ref>Hanegraaff p. 38</ref> Celsus shows himself familiar with the story of Jewish origins.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Dale B. |title=Inventing Superstition: From the Hippocratics to the Christians |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |year=2004 |isbn=0-674-01534-7 |pages=141, 143}}</ref>{{clarify|date=February 2018}} Conceding that Christians are not without success in business (''infructuosi in negotiis''), Celsus wants them to be good citizens, to retain their own belief but worship the emperors and join their fellow citizens in defending the empire.<ref>Terrot Reavely Glover, ''The Conflict Of Religions In The Early Roman Empire'', (Methuen & Co., 1910 [Kindle Edition]), chap. VIII., p. 431</ref> This appeal on behalf of unity and mutual toleration nevertheless centers on submission to the state and military service. One of Celsus's bitterest complaints is that Christians refused to cooperate with civil society and held local customs and the ancient religions in contempt. The Christians viewed these as idolatrous and inspired by evil spirits, whereas polytheists like Celsus thought of them as the works of the Daemons, or the god's ministers, who ruled mankind in his place to keep him from the ''pollution of mortality''.<ref>Glover, p. 427</ref> Celsus attacks the Christians as feeding off faction and disunity, and accuses them of converting the vulgar and ignorant, while refusing to debate wise men.<ref>Glover, p. 410</ref> As for their opinions regarding their sacred mission and exclusive holiness, Celsus responds by deriding their insignificance, comparing them to ''a swarm of bats, or ants creeping out of their nest, or frogs holding a symposium round a swamp, or worms in conventicle in a corner of the mud''.<ref>Glover, p. 412</ref>  It is not known how many were Christians at the time of Celsus (the Jewish population of the empire may have been about 6.6–10% in a population of 60 million to quote one reference).<ref>[[Robert Louis Wilken]], ''The Christians as the Romans Saw Them'', (Yale: University Press, 2nd edition, 2003)</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{citation|last=Brock|first=Peter|date=1972|title=Pacifism in Europe to 1914|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlR9BgAAQBAJ&q=Origen+pacifism&pg=PA12|location=Princeton, New Jersey|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-69161-972-9}}
* {{citation|last=Cahill|first=Lisa Sowle|date=1994|title=Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVSTCudbNd8C&q=Origen+pacifism&pg=PA53|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-0-80062-700-3}}
* {{citation|last=Charles|first=J. Daryl|date=2005|title=Between Pacifism and Jihad: Just War and Christian Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DqCrSXNfwCYC&q=Origen+pacifism&pg=PA36|location=Downers Grove, Illinois|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-83082-772-5}}
* {{citation|last=Grant|first=Robert M.|authorlink=Robert M. Grant (theologian)|date=1967|title=Origen|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Edwards|editor-first=Paul|volume=5|location=New York City, New York|publisher=The MacMillan Company & The Free Press|oclc=174214019|pages=551–552}}
* {{citation|last=Gregerman|first=Adam|date=2016|chapter=Origen's ''Contra Celsum''|title=Building on the Ruins of the Temple|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwMj90hQYqMC&q=Contra+Celsum|series=Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism|pages=59–96|volume=165|location=Tübingen, Germany|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=978-3-16154-322-7}}
* {{citation|last=Heine|first=Ronald E.|date=3 May 2004|chapter=The Alexandrians|title=The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature|editor1-last=Young|editor1-first=Francis|editor2-last=Ayres|editor2-first=Lewis|editor3-last=Louth|editor3-first=Andrew|editor4-last=Casiday|editor4-first=Augustine|location=Cambridge, England|pages=117–130|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-46083-5}}
* {{citation|last=Litwa|first=M. David|date=2014|title=Iesus Deus: The Early Christian Depiction of Jesus as a Mediterranean God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQUDAwAAQBAJ&q=Contra+Celsum|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-45147-985-0}}
* {{citation|last=Marcovich|first=M.|date=2001|chapter=Preface|title=Contra Celsum: Libri VIII|location=Leiden, The Netherlands, Boston, Massachusetts, and Köln, Germany|publisher=Brill|isbn=9004119760}}
* {{citation|last=McGuckin|first=John Anthony|date=2004|chapter=The Scholarly Works of Origen|title=The Westminster Handbook to Origen|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riEdrWEDFq0C&q=Origen+ordination&pg=PA13|pages=25–44|location=Louisville, Kentucky|editor-last=McGuckin|editor-first=John Anthony|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-66422-472-1}}
* {{citation|last=Olson|first=Roger E.|date=1999|title=The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zexBAwAAQBAJ&q=Origen+Father+of+Theology&pg=PA100|location=Downers Grove, Illinois|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-83081-505-0}}
* {{citation|last=Somos|first=Róbert|date=2015|title=Logic and Argumentation in Origen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eztOrgEACAAJ&q=Logic+and+Argumentation+in+Origen|series=Adamantiana: Texte und Studien zu Origines und seinem Erbe|editor1-last=Fürst|editor1-first=Alfons|volume=7|location=Münster, Germany|publisher=Aschendorff Verlag|isbn=978-3-40213-717-8}}
* {{citation|last=Thomas|first=Stephen|date=2004|chapter=Celsus|title=The Westminster Handbook to Origen|location=Louisville, Kentucky|editor-last=McGuckin|editor-first=John Anthony|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-66422-472-1|pages=72–73}}
* {{citation|last=Trigg|first=Joseph Wilson|date=1983|title=Origen: The Bible and Philosophy in the Third-Century Church|location=Atlanta, Georgia|publisher=John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-80420-945-8}}
* {{citation|last=Wilken|first=Robert Louis|date=2003|orig-year=1984|title=The Christians as the Romans Saw Them|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbFfhy510NQC&q=Contra+Celsum|location=New Haven, Connecticut and London, England|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-30009-839-6}}
{{refend}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Catherine|last=Nixey|title=The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World|publisher=Macmillan|location = London, UK|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5098-1606-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Hanegraaff | first=Wouter |year=2012 | title=Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture | publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521196215}}
*{{cite book |first=R. Joseph |last=Hoffmann |title=On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians |url=https://archive.org/details/ontruedoctrine00cels |url-access=registration |year=1987 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504151-4}}

==Further reading==
* [[Theodor Keim]], ''Gegen die Christen.'' (1873) [''Celsus' wahres Wort''], Reprint Matthes & Seitz, München 1991 ({{ISBN|3-88221-350-7}})
* Pélagaud, ''Etude sur Celse'' (1878)
* K. J. Neumann's edition in ''Scriptores Graeci qui Christianam impugnaverunt religionem''
* article in Hauck-Herzog's ''Realencyk. für prot. Theol.'' where a very full bibliography is given
* W. Moeller, ''History of the Christian Church'', i.169 ff.
* [[Adolf Harnack]], ''Expansion of Christianity'', ii. 129 if.
* [[J. A. Froude]], ''Short Studies'', iv.
* Bernhard Pick, [https://archive.org/stream/monist23instgoog#page/n235/mode/2up ''"The Attack of Celsus on Christianity,"''] The Monist, Vol. XXI, 1911.
* ''Des Origenes Acht Bücher gegen Celsus.'' Übersetzt von Paul Koetschau. Josef Kösel Verlag. München. 1927.
* Celsus: ''Gegen die Christen.'' Übersetzt von Th. Keim (1873) [''Celsus' wahres Wort''], Reprint Matthes & Seitz, München 1991 ({{ISBN|3-88221-350-7}})
* Horacio E. Lona, ''Die »Wahre Lehre« des Kelsos. Übersetzt und erklärt''. Kommentar zu frühchristlichen Apologeten, supplementary volume 1. Freiburg: Herder, 2005, {{ISBN|3-451-28599-1}}.
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03490a.htm "Celsus the Platonist"], ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
* B. A. Zuiddam, "Old Critics and Modern Theology", ''Dutch Reformed Theological Journal'' (South Africa), part xxxvi, number 2, June 1995.
* Stephen Goranson, [http://www.duke.edu/~goranson/Celsus_of_Pergamum.pdf "Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity"], in D. R. Edwards and C. T. McCollough (eds), ''The Archaeology of Difference: Gender, Ethnicity, Class and the "Other" in Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Eric M. Meyers'' (Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research, 2007) (Information Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 60/61).

==External links==
*{{cite CE1913|wstitle=Celsus the Platonist|volume=3|short=x}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Celsus |volume=5 |pages=609–611}}
*{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=290&letter=C&search=Celsus |title=Celsus |short=x}}
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen161.html  Origen's Text on Celsus]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=3IAEAAAAQAAJ full text of ''The Arguments of Celsus Against the Christians'' in Google Books]
*{{Gutenberg author|id=38829|name=Celsus}}
*{{OL author|1111075A}}
*{{Librivox author |id=15565}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2nd-century Christianity]]
[[Category:2nd-century Greek philosophers]]
[[Category:Middle Platonists]]
[[Category:Pagan anti-Gnosticism]]
[[Category:Greek critics of Christianity]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]